


First Impressions

by sepsner



Category: South Park
Genre: Awkward Thanksgiving Dinner, Butters is genderbent or trans, Fake Dating, Fluff, M/M, Marjorine Stotch - Freeform, either one is fine it doesn't really matter, stutters, stutters week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 17:43:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16623512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepsner/pseuds/sepsner
Summary: Marjorine needs a boyfriend for Thanksgiving. Stan would have any opportunity to be that boyfriend.





	First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> For part of NaNo and Stutters week! May edit later :D

Stan was nice. Some people said he was _too_ nice. There was nothing _too_ nice, Stan thought, about trying to help his friends. This time, though, with Linda Stotch on one side of him and Stephen Stotch across from him, Stan believed that maybe he went too far.  
  
When Marjorine had begged him to join her for Thanksgiving, Stan hadn’t thought much of it. “Please,” she had asked, “I’m so sick of my parents asking when I’m gonna find a nice man. They always say that eventually the ugly duckling turns into the swan… well, I don’t wanna be the ugly duckling anymore!”  
  
Of course Stan had agreed to be her fake boyfriend for Thanksgiving. There was no way he could turn down Marjorine. Especially when he wanted to be her _real_ boyfriend… Even if that never happened, at least Stan could enjoy the fantasy while it lasted.  
  
He had driven them both to Colorado, where Marj’s parents lived. Marj spent the whole trip telling Stan what to expect, effectively warning him against her parents. Stan brushed it off - whose parents were really _that_ bad? He would be fine. He just had to pretend to be her boyfriend, and that was easy.  
  
Stan regretted not taking Marj seriously. Her parents were… a lot. Very Christian. Stan had been raised to believe in God, but even then, it had never been as… dedicated as the Stotches.  
  
And now Stan was having dinner with them. He felt a cold sweat run down his back. He felt Stephen’s eyes burning into him as he ate, his palms clammy with sweat. This was nerve-wracking. Thanksgiving had never been so _scary_. Stan just had to _pray_ that they didn’t ask him any questions--  
  
“So, Stanley.” Fuck! “What did you say you do again?”  
  
Stan never said. He glanced at Marj, who was giving him a sympathetic, but encouraging, smile. “Well, I’m at college. Sir.”  
  
Stephen hummed to himself. “We didn’t go to college, did we, Linda?”  
  
“Oh, no,” Linda shook her head. “We told Marjorine it was no use, either. She could stay at home and learn how to be a good wife, then marry someone skilled with a trade…”  
  
Stan opened his mouth to say something, but Marjorine butted in, probably sensing that Stan was about to fuck it all up. “Ma’am,” she smiled sweetly, “if I didn’t go to college, I wouldn’t have met Stan. And Stan is a handyman. Like a carpenter  
  
A carpenter? Stan wouldn’t have described himself like that… Oh! Like Jesus! Stephen and Linda must have caught on to what Marj was implying, because they shut up about the whole housewife thing.  
  
“It’s a respectable trade,” Stephen nodded. “Not like studying, what, English? Music?” He laughed, and Linda laughed with him. Stan, the music major, gripped his cutlery a little tighter.  
  
“Is there not any value to studying English or Music then, Mister Stotch?” Stan asked through gritted teeth.  
  
“No,” Stephen laughed. “Anyone who studies English at an American university is just wasting money. I can already speak fluent English and read a book and have opinions on it. And music? The music industry is full of talentless money-hungry wannabees nowadays.” He nodded to himself, as if someone else had just made this _excellent_ argument. “Real music, like the stuff I listened to growing up, all came from the heart. Not from studying notes or trying too hard to make it sound ‘catchy’ and ‘relatable’.”  
  
Stan grit his teeth. “People don’t _just_ make music for it to be popular.”  
  
Stephen rolled his eyes. He _rolled his eyes_! Stan’s face was heating up. “You’re still naive.”  
  
“I’m-”  
  
“Stanley,” Marj snapped suddenly, dragging Stan back to reality. Now wasn’t the time to have a fight. “My dad isn’t trying to pick on you, silly.” She laughed, breezy, like her fake boyfriend and dad didn’t just almost blow up at each other. “Stan is studying music. His dad is a musician, too. DIY and music are like two strands of the Marsh DNA.”  
  
“I see,” Stephen hummed, and Stan could have sworn he looked down his nose. Instead of picking a fight, Stan kept to himself. Head down. Eat your turkey.  
  
It worked, until Marj’s parents piped up again. “Do you believe in God, Stan?”  
  
Yes, Stan had been raised Catholic. But in college, he wasn’t exactly the most pious he could have been. And now, he wasn’t even sure about his faith. He wasn’t sure about a lot of things. Would it have been better to be strong in his beliefs, or push on with what Stephen wanted him to say?  
  
“I was raised Catholic and was baptised,” Stan replied.  
  
“So you do believe in God?”  
  
Stan caught Marj’s eye. He could see in her expression that she was practically _begging_ him to just be _civil_ and play along with her dad.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Marj’s expression relaxed in relief. Stephen nodded. “You were raised right.”  
  
“But,” Stan added. Marj tensed up again. “There are lots of things in the faith that I don’t agree with.”  
  
“Oh.” Linda piped up this time. “I teach Bible study. Maybe I could help you through what you misunderstand?”  
  
“I understand,” Stan said, “I just don’t agree.”  
  
Stephen put down his cutlery. Marj, in the corner of Stan’s eye, was shaking her head. Stan would have to apologise later.  
  
The conversation dove into religion. Stan, who had probably suddenly become an atheist in the Stotch’s eyes, was holding his own, as Linda and Stephen grilled him. Marj held her head in her hands, shaking her head.  
  
Stephen eventually stood. “You need to leave.”  
  
Stan got out of his chair, too. “I’d be _glad_ to.”  
  
“I told you,” Linda spat, “I told you that college would _ruin_ Marjorine’s life.”  
  
Stan ignored her. He grabbed his coat and pulled on his shoes, just wanting to _leave_. “Are you coming, Marj?”  
  
“Marjorine is staying,” Stephen barked. “We have a lot to talk abou-”  
  
“Marjorine is going,” Marj interrupted, pushing past her father and taking her own coat. Stan could see her hands shake as she purposefully hid her face from Stephen. Stan knew her dad terrified her, but she was still, somehow, talking back at him. Stan smiled at her. Marjorine frowned. “And you’re in huge trouble.”  
  
Well, that was fair.  
  
The two of them got back into Stan’s car. Marjorine’s parents watched on from their doorway. Linda was _upset_ , if all human emotions faked and exaggerated for sympathy. Stephen was mad. Very mad. If Stan ever came back, he figured that Stephen would kick his ass… or shoot him.  
  
Stan drove away as fast as he could.  
  
The car was silent. Eventually, they reached a stoplight, and Stan threw his head against the steering wheel. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m an awful fake boyfriend.”  
  
“You really are,” Marjorine huffed. “You argued with my parents, you didn’t even pretend to study a ‘real’ subject, _and_ you had poor table manners. You were a terrible fake boyfriend.”  
  
Stan frowned and glanced over at Marj, expecting that pout that girls did when they were pissed off. Instead, she was fiddling with her fingers, her hair over her face, as if she were… embarrassed?  
  
“But, um…” Marj’s voice was quiet, and Stan had to strain to listen to her. “You wouldn’t be a bad… _real_ boyfriend…”  
  
Marj’s cheeks were flushed and red. Stan swallowed. Was she asking him out or something?  
  
“What do you-”  
  
“Nevermind,” Marj shook her head, trying to hide her face in her hair completely. “If I wanted a fake boyfriend, I should have asked Kyle. It was so selfish of me to ask you to be my fake boyfriend, knowing that I have these feelings…”  
  
Stan’s heart skipped a beat. “Have what feelings?” A car behind Stan beeped, making the two of them jump. Alright, asshole, it’s green. Get off my ass. Stan drove forwards and glanced back at Marj. “What feelings?”  
  
“It’s so stupid,” Marj mumbled, covering her face. “Especially because you don’t like me back.”  
  
“Hey.” Stan frowned. “I never said I don’t like you?”  
  
“But you haven’t said you do!”  
  
Stan pulled over at the nearest fast food place, stopping in the car park. Now stationary, he reached over and hesitantly touched Marj’s knee. “I… do like you, Marj. I agreed to be your fake boyfriend because I would do anything to be your boyfriend. Of any kind.”  
  
Marj finally emerged from her hair to smile shyly at Stan. “You’re not just trying to be nice?”  
  
“It’s the truth. I promise.”  
  
Marj put a hand on Stan’s, and all his worries washed away. “You’re so sweet,” she smiled, “you know that, right?”  
  
“I’ve been told.” Stan smiled. “But the only way I’m sweet right now is being sweet on you.”  
  
“Aw, you,” Marj laughed. “You’re still in trouble, mister.”  
  
“I know,” Stan laughed. “But…”  
  
“But…” Marj cupped his cheek. “You’re in trouble with your _girlfriend_.”  
  
As Marj brought her lips against Stan’s, all of the regret that Stan was having earlier washed away. He was being kissed. By his girlfriend! The traditional Thanksgiving meal didn’t work out, but Stan was able to have cheap fast food in his car with his girlfriend, and everything was perfect.


End file.
